Ski binder cable safety tightener



Aug. 2, 1960 H. DE PLACE SKI BINDER CABLE SAFETY TIGHTENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 'Dec. 6, 1957 Aug. 2, 1960 H. DE PLACE SKI BINDER CABLE SAFETY TIGHTENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1957 'III IIIIJIIIIIIIIIIIVIIMMw 2 Fig.6.

United States Patent SKI. BINDER CABLE SAFETY TIGHTENER Henry de Place, 25 rue du Montparnasse, Paris, France Filed Dec. 6, 1957, Ser. No. 701,076

Claims priority, application France Dec. 7, 1956 2 Claims. (Cl. 280--11.35)

This invention relates to improvements in ski binder cable safety devices intended for binding the boot to the ski and to release the boot from the ski in case of dangerous fall.

Most ski binders comprise a cable surrounding the heel of the boot, this cable being tensioned by means of a lever.

Different mechanisms have already been proposed for automatically opening this lever when an abnormal cable tension occurs, notably in case of serious forward fall.

In certain known propositions the lever is pivoted on a support adapted to recede longitudinally by deforming an elastic system and to tilt and thus open the lever when the aforesaid longitudinal movement due to an abnormal exerted on the sliding surfaces as the latter are necessarily rather small due to the mechanism arrangement and the machining possibilities. are difiicult to manufacture on a commercial scale.

Moreover, these devices This invention is concerned with improvements in sa'fety tighteners of this general type for the purpose of providing extremely sturdy and wear-resistant devices that can be machined very easily.

To this end the safety tightener for ski binder cable, wherein the cable tensioning lever is pivoted on a support adapted to tilt about an axis displaceablebackward on another support secured on the ski while compressing an elastic system, is characterized in that said tilting support is substantially hook-shaped and comprises an inner fiat face adapted to bear and slide on a stationary transverse member norm-ally holding said tilting support against rotation and, between said flat face and the pin on which said tilting support is mounted, a relatively deep notch permitting the rotation of said tilting support in case an.

abnormal effort exerted on the cable causes said tilting support to recede to an extent sufficient to cause said fiat surface to escape from said stationary transverse member and said relatively deep notch to register therewith, the

' rotation of said tilting support causing in this case said transverse member to engage said notch, said tilting sup port to be hooked while preventing said elastic system from restoring said support to its front position, and a sufiicient lowering of the fulcrum of said lever on said "tilting support to cause said fulcrum to move below the 2,947,545 Patented Aug. 2, 1960 2 and illustrating diagrammatically by way of example a typical form of embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are a lateral view and a plan view respectively of the complete ski binder cable safety tightener;

Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sections taken upon the lines IIIIII and IVIV respectively of Fig. 6 and showing the tightener safety mechanism in two different positions;

Figures 5 and 6 are a lateral view and a plan view respectively of the stationary and tilting supports of said lever; and

Figure 7 is an end View of said supports.

The tightener illustrated consists of a substantially U-shaped support 1 comprising a horizontal base plate in which three countersunk holes 2 are formed to permit its fixation on the ski by means of screws and a pair of vertical side flanges 3 each formed with an aperture 4 in which the end portions of a transverse pin 5 are longitudinally movable. These end portions of pin 5 are formed in turn with flat faces constituting relatively large bearing surfaces through which pin 5 engages the upper edge of the aperture 4 while preventing the pin 5 from moving in a transverse direction. A cavity 6 formed in each aperture 4 permits the insertion of the pin 5 when assembling the device.

The stresses tending to apply the fiat end portions of the pin 5 against the upper edge of the apertures 4 are such that the pin 5 cannot be extracted from the U-shaped support 1 unless the springs to be described presently are released.

The transverse pin 5 has mounted on it a slotted cylinder 7 having its front end solid with a rod 8 and a tilting support 9 the front portion of which constitutes a lug engaging the slot of cylinder 7. The tilting support 9 carries at its rear end another transverse pivot pin 10 on which a lever 11 is fulcrumed as shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 2, and at its front end a nose 12 adapted to engage with its lower face the cylinder 7 and with its upper face the lever 11 which normally rests thereupon. The tilting support 9 held between the flanges 3 of the stationary support 1 cannot tilt forwards due to the presence of the nose l2 and bears at the rear through a relatively large flat face 13 upon a transverse member 14 inserted between the aforesaid flanges 3 of the stationary support 1. In front of the flat face 13 is a notch 15 also formed in the tilting support 9.

On the rod 8 are successively threaded a cross-shaped plate 16 fitting in and bearing against the front edges of the aforesaid flanges 3, a main spring 17 and a secondary or weaker spring 18. These springs are slightly pre-stressed by a blind nut 19 tightened on the rod 8. A variable number of washers 20 are interposed between the spring 18 and nut 19 to adjust the initial spring compression to the proper value.

A case 21 formed at its front end with two side extensions 22 disposed on either side of the lever 11 is pivoted on the latter by means of pins or rivets 23. The cable 24 to be fitted around the skiers boot (not shown) is secured to an anchoring member (not visible in the drawings) disposed within the case 21. This anchoring member is adapted to be adjusted in the longitudinal direction by means of a knurled screw 27 to modify at will the cable tension. The lower rear portion of case 21 is formed with a skid-element 35 adapted to rest upon and slide on the ski upper surface shown diagrammatically at 50.

Under normal conditions of use, as the transverse member 14 (see Fig. 3) holds the tilting support 9 against any rotational movement about the pivot pin 5, the

safety tightener operates like any conventional-type tightener, the lever 11 being fulcrumed on the pin 10 which in the closed position lies above the traction line (overcenter position). Theresiliency of the tension is provided by the longitudinal displacement of the support 9 which slides on the transverse member 14, carries along the pin 5, cylinder 7, and rod 8, and compresses more .or less the springs 17, 18 through the medium of the nut 19 and washers 29.

If, as a consequence of a serious fall, the cable tension exceeds a predetermined limit, the tilting support 9 by receding to a greater extent will enable the flat face 13 to escape from the transverse member 14, and by virtue of the notch 15 the aforesaid support 9 will tilt to the position shown in Fig. 4. This tilting movement is caused by the relative positions of the pivot pins and 10, of rivets 23, and also by the height of the skid 35, these various parts being so arranged that the traction efforts exerted on the rivets 23 occur in a direction passing between the axes of 'pivot pins 5 and it Under these conditions, the lever 11 is constantly urged to its locked position on the nose 12 of support 9 in the closed position, but the assembly comprising the lever 11 and support 9 tends to tilt about the pin 5. As the lever 11 rotates at the same time as its tilting support 9, the axis of the pivot pin moves to a position below the traction line (overcenter position) and the lever completes its opening movement by rotating about the axis of pivot pin 10. It will be readily understood that the tilting movement of the support 9 requires no additional movement of the pivot pin 5 so that an instantaneous knee-action Opening movement is obtained. The tilting support 9 remains hooked to the transverse member 14 engaging the notch 15 to maintain the springs 17, 18 in their compressed condition. This locking of the oscillating lever 9 in a recessed position will not only increase the cable slackening but also prevents this slackening action from being retarded by the spring expansion as this would interfere with the release of the skiers boot.

To restore the device to its initial or cable-tensioning position, it is sufficient to depress the lever 11 home. This movement will cause during its final portion the support 9 to rotate about the axis 5 and to disengage it from the transverse member 14. Due to the action of springs 17, 18 this support 9 resumes its normal front position.

The more flexible spring 18 increases the smoothness of the opening and closing movements of the lever 11 in spite of the considerable eccentricity affording a substantial slackening of the cable when the opening move ment takes place. However, if the traction efforts become more important, notably when the skier leans forwards, the spring 18 is compressed home and thus locked. The stronger spring 17 alone remains operative. The safety mechanism is adjustable by varying the number and/or thickness of the washers 2t) interposed between the spring 18 and the blind nut 19. The typical form of embodiment shown in the drawings is given by way of example only, and it will be readily understood by anybody conversant with the art that many modifications and alterations may be brought thereto, and other embodiments devised, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the ap ended claims.

Thus, the hook-shaped tilting support 9 of the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and described hereabove consists of a unitary cast member, but it is evident that a tilting support formed with a notch 15 disposed between 2. fiat face 13 and a pivot pin 5 may be obtained in any other suitable manner ..notably by using either pressed metal parts, or a plurality of assembled parts having the same fundamental characteristics.

What I claim is: V

1.'A ski binder cable safety tightener comprising a stationary support of substantially U-shaped cross-section with lateral upstanding flanges each provided with a slot, a pivot pin having its end portions engaged in said slots and formed with flat faces forming a large bearing surface against the upper edges of said slots, a resilient system constantly urging said pivot pin forwards against the traction exerted by the binder cable, a tilting support having its front end pivotally mounted on said pivot pin, a second pivot pin on the rear upper portion of said tilting support, a cable tensioning lever pivoted at its rear end on said second pivot pin, a transverse member rigid with said stationary support and extending between'said upstanding flanges, said tilting support having a hook-shaped lower portion formed by a flat portion normally resting upon said transverse member and preventing said tilting support from tilting and a notch between said fiat portion and the pivot pin on which said support is pivotally mounted, said hook-shaped lower portion being positioned entirely between said upstanding flanges and said flat portion and said notch extending the full width of the hook-shaped lower portion, said tilting support being adapted, in case of abnormal tension exerted on said cable, to recede to an extent suflicient to cause its flat portion to escape from said transverse member, whereby said notch registers with said transverse member and said tilting support rotates about its fulcrum as said transverse member engages said notch and said tilting support is retained by said transverse member, said tilting movement causing the pivot pin on which said lever is pivoted to be lowered to a position beneath the line along which the cable traction is exerted on said lever so as to automatically open said lever.

2. A safety tightener as set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient system for constantly urging in a forward direction the pivot pin about which said tilting support is adapted to rotate consists of a rod having its rear end anchored to said pivot pin and having threaded thereon at least two compression springs compressed between the front end of said rod and the front portion of said stationary support, said springs having different strengths and bearing on each other whereby the weakest spring is compressed home and locked when the tension exerted on said cable exceeds a predetermined value and at least the strongest spring preserves its resiliency.

References tiited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS (Addition to No. 1,034,246) 

